Rules for Public Attendance at Meetings

Occasionally, the Violent Crimes Compensation Board holds public sessions at a Board meeting and the public is invited to attend. The public is advised of upcoming open meetings through notice posted on the State of Alaska's Online Public Notice Page. Persons needing special accommodation to participate are advised in the notice of the procedure for requesting the necessary accommodation. The notice includes the date, time, and location of the meeting. The start time of the Public Session will be posted.

Except for meetings with "Special Public Session" included in the notice, the Public Session is limited to one hour or whenever all public testimony has been heard. As the Public Session ends immediately upon conclusion of public testimony, members of the public wishing to speak to the Board must arrive within five minutes of the session's scheduled start.

Testimony by individual members of the public shall be limited to seven minutes per individual. Speakers shall be advised of the time allowance at the commencement of testimony. The time lapsed will be noted for each participant at two minutes remaining and again at one minute remaining.

All testimony will be recorded utilizing audio equipment, video equipment, or both. The record of any claimant's appearance before the Board in Public Session shall be maintained in accordance with AS 18.67.030(c), which provides that any personally identifying information relating to an applicant for compensation is confidential and may not be released by the Board.

All members of the public are expected to leave the meeting site immediately upon conclusion of the Public Session. The conclusion of the public session shall be announced by the meeting Chairperson.

If the testimony should be heard in Executive Session, the meeting Chairperson shall advise the speaker. Appropriate arrangements to continue the testimony in Executive Session shall be made.

BOARD CLAIMANTS
TESTIMONY IN EXECUTIVE SESSION

The Violent Crimes Compensation Board encourages persons with pending and/or recently determined crime victim compensation claims to speak to the Board at a Board meeting if they so choose. Board claimants are encouraged to maintain close communication with Board staff at 1-800-764-3040 nationwide or 465-5524 in Juneau regarding the status of their claim(s).

Both in-person and telephonic participation can be arranged, but requires pre-arrangement with Board staff. Persons wishing to attend should contact Administrative Manager, Pearl Younker at 1-800-764-3040 nationwide or at 465-5524 in Juneau no later than ONE DAY BEFORE THEIR CLAIM IS SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD or ONE DAY BEFORE A SCHEDULED MEETING IF THE CLAIM HAS ALREADY BEEN HEARD to make necessary arrangements.

Testimony directly related to Board claims shall be limited to seven minutes per speaker. Speakers shall be advised of the time allowance at the commencement of testimony. The time lapsed will be noted at two minutes remaining and again at one minute remaining.

All testimony will be recorded utilizing audio equipment, video equipment, or both. The record of any speaker's appearance before the Board shall be maintained in accordance with AS 18.67.030(c), which provides that any personally identifying information relating to an applicant for compensation is confidential and may not be released by the Board.

If the Board has any questions for the speaker, the Board will ask them at the conclusion of testimony. At the conclusion of the testimony or Board questioning, the speaker must leave the meeting site or hang the telephone up immediately.